Calling Out 'Backward Incentives' of Trump Tax Law, 54 Groups Urge Congress to Support Effort to Stop Corporate Offshoring

In an effort to combat “one of the most egregious problems” created by President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular $1.5 trillion tax law, a diverse array of 54 prominent advocacy groups sent a letter (pdf) on Thursday calling on members of Congress to back legislation that would eliminate the law’s “backward incentives” that—contrary to GOP promises—actually encourage corporations to ship jobs and profits overseas.

“The Trump-GOP tax law continues to encourage corporations to shift enormous profits offshore and outsource good-paying American jobs.”
—Frank Clemente, Americans for Tax Fairness

“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will allow companies to avoid taxes on $235 billion in profits each year going forward,” writes the coalition of groups, which includes Americans for Tax Fairness, Public Citizen, and Jobs With Justice. “This is revenue that should be funding critical public investments in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and other priorities.”

“Moreover, the law created new incentives for multinational corporations to move their real operations offshore,” the groups add. “The law guarantees that U.S. multinational corporations will pay at most one-half the domestic tax rate on their offshore earnings, with many companies paying little or nothing in taxes on these earnings.”